The House Republican leadership’s ambitious fundraising timeline has been delayed as they juggle intraparty spending disputes and a tight schedule before the August recess.
Republicans had been considering voting on the four funding bills this week as part of a larger effort to pass all 12 of the year’s spending bills by the end of next week.
But under the new agenda, the House of Representatives Planned They will vote on only two bills this week, including measures to fund the Departments of the Interior and Energy through most of 2025, and will postpone plans to vote on funding proposals for agencies such as the Departments of Agriculture and Financial Services.
Asked about the withdrawal of the plan, Rep. Tom Cole (R-Okla.), chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, which has the powerful power to write the annual budget bill, told reporters on Monday that he blamed lawmakers’ tight schedule this week.
“Apparently, there’s other stuff on the agenda,” he said Monday afternoon. “There’s bipartisan legislation coming up for a commission to investigate the assassination attempt on President Trump.”
“But we’ll see what happens. It’s still in motion. There are still four seats in the chamber. If this goes through, it will make six,” he said, noting that the House still has a “significant lead over the Senate.”
But he and other Republicans acknowledge other concerns that could pose stumbling blocks for the party as it tries to pass the rest of the partisan budget bill.
The House has so far passed four of the 12 budget bills, and lawmakers are optimistic the remaining bills will be approved before Congress goes on recess in August.
But lawmakers were caught off guard earlier this month when a bloc of conservatives defected over concerns about spending levels and other issues, resulting in the defeat of the chamber’s annual budget bill.
Discussing the budget bill being introduced this week, Cole noted concerns lawmakers have expressed about funding levels in the fiscal year 2025 energy and water appropriations bill, but argued, “Frankly, this is all additional funding for the nuclear triad, which makes a lot of sense.”
“I think they’re a good bill and they’re very solid, but you never know,” he said. “I mean, it didn’t take much to lose. [legislative] If you introduce a chapter bill and five, six, seven members vote against it, you’re in trouble.”
His comments underscore the challenge leadership faces in passing all 12 funding bills through the House with narrow majorities, with partisan policy addendums, particularly on areas such as abortion and lower spending levels than those being pursued in the Senate, preventing most Democrats from supporting the bills.
Some Republicans are tempering expectations for other upcoming budget bills, including the FBI funding measure, acknowledging that intraparty rifts over spending and policy that stymied efforts to pass a similar bill last year remain.
